Counselling Christchurch

Counselling can be challenging at times, but finding a way to free yourself from some of the suffering you are experiencing is worth it.

Some grief can be expected when we let go of familiar habits and begin to see new perspectives. People are sometimes surprised at the difficulty they feel when they first attempt to stop behaviours that they know are sabotaging their goals.

Together we can identify when you are most likely to slip back into the habits you'd like to stop and you can learn ways to maintain your motivation at your more vulnerable times. And you can learn to forgive yourself and recover when you do occasionally slip.

Counselling requires a willingness to step out of your comfort zone, but we'll only take steps as you are ready to.

We'll take some time to get to know each other and look at your readiness to address important issues. The counselling process isn't about handing over control to me - with client-centred counselling you are able to make decisions about what your priorities are and what you feel you most want help with at a particular stage. A little discomfort can be expected but there is no need to feel overwhelmed.

Homework is a great way to get the most out of your counselling sessions.

The insights that you get from counselling are most useful if you practice the new attitudes and behaviours between sessions. It is also important that you observe your progress and support yourself during the rest of the week.

It is important to work on being assertive with your negative voice.

Have you ever seen a cartoon where a character has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other? Some people find that they have the negative voice in their ear more than they would like. When they feel themselves relaxing the negative voice comes to life reminding them of unresolved issues and criticisms. This experience can leave them feeling restless and pessimistic.

Thoughts affect feelings and feelings affect thoughts, and both feelings and thoughts can affect our behaviour. If our thoughts and feelings have been negative and self defeating the behaviors that follow are likely to also be negative and we may suffer a negative response from people in our lives.

If your negative voice is holding you back, we can work out effective ways for you to manage some of the thoughts, feelings and behaviours that are causing you suffering and identify some more helpful alternatives that you can turn to when you need them.